The importance of consultancy and training for the digital transformation of education
Digital education is expanding rapidly. The urgency, of course, began with the COVID-19 pandemic and most institutions had to move their teaching online very quickly. But, even now that face-to-face teaching can take place again, the global e-learning market is set to grow to $1 trillion in value by 2027.
Its rapid expansion and the flexibility and global reach that online learning provides means that digital education is an important strategic decision for many institutions and organisations.
When there was time pressure to move educational offerings from traditional contexts to digital environments, institutions had little time to spend on designing their teaching effectively.
Since then, an abundance of research has been done to examine the differences between face-to-face and online teaching and learning. What the research has shown is that online learning environments are different from face-to-face learning environments and should be treated as such.
Most educational providers are not trained in the differences between teaching face-to-face and teaching online. Simply moving material from one context to another is not the answer; research has shown the dissatisfaction of students when this approach is taken (O’Shea et al., 2015). According to a 2023 report by McKinsey, “a significant share of students are dissatisfied with the online experiences their universities offer, signaling that higher education institutions could benefit by evolving their online learning models”. This dissatisfaction can be rectified with effective training for faculty and stakeholders involved in the design and delivery of online teaching.
It’s imperative that institutions are trained in the effective design, development, and delivery of online teaching; this is especially true for teaching staff. As Karkar-Esperat tells us, “[faculty] need to receive training in online teaching before entering the virtual classroom so they can learn the most effective techniques to enhance the online learning experience” (2018, p. 1732). It is a different skillset.
The more training that faculty receive, the better they are able to teach their students in digital environments, and the better outcomes and higher rates of satisfaction they will receive from students.
The more training that EdTech teams receive, including learning designers, the better able they are to design effective learning sequences for students, creating successful courses and programmes for diverse cohorts.
The more training that institutional stakeholders receive, the better understanding they will have of the digital education market and the better decisions they can make regarding the offerings they create.
When it is designed and delivered effectively, online learning can offer exceptional outcomes. According to Oxford College:
42% of organisations have experienced an increase in income since introducing e-learning as part of their training.
Online learning is the fastest-growing market in the education industry with a 900% growth rate globally since the year 2000.
Almost half (49%) of e-learning students said that if an online course had a VR element, it would encourage them to sign up.
Online learning reportedly reduces energy consumption by 90% compared to classroom learning.
E-learning increases information retention rates up to 60%, compared to 8-10% for traditional learning.
Training and development in the provision of online education is no longer a ‘nice to have’. Online learning is expanding at a rapid rate and offering effective teaching and an exceptional student experience is a necessity. It should be at the centre of every institution’s strategy.
REFERENCES
Karkar-Esperat, T. M. (2018). International Graduate Students’ Challenges and Learning Experiences in Online Classes. Journal of International Students, 8(4), 1722-1735.
Child, F., Frank, M., Law, J. and Sarakatsannis, J. (2023). What do higher education students want from online learning? McKinsey & Company. Available from: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-sector/our-insights/what-do-higher-education-students-want-from-online-learning
Sarah O’ Shea, Cathy Stone & Janine Delahunty (2015) “I ‘feel’ like I am at university even though I am online.” Exploring how students narrate their engagement with higher education institutions in an online learning environment, Distance Education, 36:1, 41-58
